The present invention relates to an electric cleaner used in an ordinary household.
1. First Prior Art
FIG. 32 and 33 depict an example of an electric cleaner of the prior art. As shown in FIG. 32, a cleaner housing 1 and a suction nozzle 2 are connected with a hose 3 and an extension pipe 4. As illustrated in FIG. 33, there are arranged an electric blower chamber 6, which houses an electric blower 5 for generating suction force, and a cord-reel chamber 9, which houses a cord reel 8 storing a power supply cord 7, in juxtaposition with respect to each other within the cleaner housing 1. There is also a dust chamber (not shown in the figure) for collecting dust, formed in front of the electric blower chamber 6. The cleaner housing 1 is provided with wheels 10 on both sides of it for mobility. The cleaner housing 1 is also provided with a laterally rotatable caster (not show in the figure) on a bottom surface of it at a forward side of the wheels 10. The cleaner housing 1, the wheels 10 and the caster comprise a main body. In such a structure of the prior art, however, there were occasionally cases in which the main body loses its balance and turns sideways if one of the wheels 10 rides over an obstacle such as a cushion, when the main body is being moved by pulling it with the hose 3. This imposed on the user an inconvenience of setting up the main body at each time.
2. Second Prior Art
FIG. 34 shows another example of an electric cleaner of the prior art. As shown in FIG. 34, a suction nozzle 2 and a cleaner housing 13 are connected with an extension pipe 4 and a hose 3. Wheels 11 having a diameter larger than the cleaner housing 13 are mounted on both sides of the cylindrically shaped cleaner housing 13. The cleaner housing 13 and the wheels 11 comprise a main body 12. The cleaner housing 13 is so constructed that it does not project toward the floor surface beyond rims of the wheels 11. In this structure of the prior art, however, the cleaner could be immobilized if caught by a chair or the like between one of the wheels 11 and the hose 3 when the main body 12 was being pulled with the hose 3. Or, the cleaner could lie with a side of the wheel 11 on the floor surface once it toppled sideways, and it was therefore not easy to handle. In addition, this structure required upsizing of the main body 12, since a span between the wheels 11 needs to be widened in order to house an electric blower 5 for suctioning dust, a power supply cord 7 for supplying electric power to the electric blower 5, and so on, within the cleaner housing 13, and a diameter of the wheels 11 needs to be enlarged beyond that of the cleaner housing 13 so as to improve stability against toppling.
The present invention is intended to obviate the aforesaid problems of the prior art, and it aims at providing an electric cleaner that is small in size, light weight, and easy to handle.
To achieve the above object, a cleaner of this invention comprises: a main body provided with a cleaner housing containing an electric blower for generating suction force and a pair of wheels mounted on the cleaner housing for mobility on a floor surface; a suction nozzle for suctioning dust on the floor surface to be cleaned through an extension pipe and a hose with the suction force of the electric blower; and a dust chamber located in a portion along an air passage from the suction nozzle to the electric blower for collecting dust, wherein both side surfaces of the main body extend outwardly beyond rim portions of the respective wheels that stay in contact with the floor surface, and that a center of gravity of the main body is placed in such a position that the main body rolls toward a direction where the wheels stand on the floor surface so as to return itself into an original posture when the main body careens in a way that one of the sides lies on the floor. Accordingly, the invention realizes the electric cleaner that is not easily toppled, and returns into its normal posture even if it turns sideways.